Chapter 3

Now that the werewolf business was out in the open, Remus seemed to settle in more with Hagrid. The boy had found some old books in the corner and pulled them out to start reading. They certainly weren't ten-year-old material, but Remus didn't seem to mind. He also continued to accompany Hagrid on his various rounds, and the previously timid boy positively blossomed into an inquisitive, smiling youth.

Hagrid took him into the Forbidden Forest to check his snares and retrieve the ferrets caught inside. "You ever seen a hippogriff?" he asked.

"Only in books," Remus replied, eyes widening with excitement. "Do they live here?"

"That they do. Want to meet one?"

Remus bobbed his head enthusiastically.

Hagrid grinned and led the way to a large rock outcropping where the old hippogriff had made his nest. Wings brittle and joints flaring up, he didn't fly much anymore but liked the view from high up so as to still be among the skies.

"Wow," Remus breathed as they climbed up to the ledge and spotted the bronze colored creature lying in the sun, his feathers and fur streaked with white.

"Afternoon, Galahad," Hagrid greeted with an inclination of his head.

The hippogriff looked up and cocked his head curiously at the second visitor.

"Now, Remus," Hagrid said, taking on an instructional tone. "Hippogriffs are very proud creatures. You have to approach them with a respectful bow and then wait to see if they'll accept ya. If not, well, best to back away slowly."

Remus's brow pinched, but he didn't look afraid, just thoughtful.

"Go on," Hagrid encouraged.

Remus took two steps forward and bowed as low as he could go. Galahad regarded him for a long moment before chirping in acknowledgement.

Hagrid grinned. "That's it. Now, go ahead and give him a snack." He passed Remus one of the dead ferrets.

Remus took it by the tail and waited for Galahad's gaze to fix on it before tossing it lightly to him. The hippogriff snatched it out of the air and gobbled it down.

"Excellent," Hagrid praised and handed him the remaining two ferrets to give the hippogriff.

Once they had given the creature all the food they had on hand, Remus bowed again to Galahad.

"Nice to meet you," he said and then backed away.

Galahad trilled a response.

"He likes you," Hagrid said, turning to head back down to the forest floor.

"Are you friends with everything in the forest, Hagrid?" Remus asked.

"Well, not everything…but quite a few things," he answered.

"Can I meet more of them?"

Hagrid grinned again. "Absolutely."

But despite all these marked improvements, the traumas Remus had been through were ever near the surface, waiting to rear their ugly heads.

One night Hagrid woke to the sounds of distressed mewls coming from the pallet on the floor. Before he could get out of bed to wake Remus, the boy jolted awake with a scream, and every candle in the room suddenly ignited like torches on gasoline. One of them caught the edges of the curtains and set them ablaze. Hagrid scrambled for his wand and sent a stream of water to put them out. He then spun to defuse the rest of the candles back to their normal sizes before turning to Remus.

The boy was huddled on his bed, knees drawn up and arms locked around them as he trembled. "I-I'm s-sorry," he stammered.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Hagrid said, getting down on the floor next to him. "Bad nightmare, huh?"

Remus nodded, then said in a hoarse whisper, "I don't like the dark."

No, a lot of children didn't, but Remus had more reason than most to fear it.

"Come on," Hagrid said, gently taking the boy by the shoulders and pulling him to his feet. He then steered him toward Hagrid's large bed, though Hagrid had to climb in first. He scooted back against the wall to make room and then patted the empty spot for Remus to come up. Remus shyly climbed up and curled up next to Hagrid and eventually went back to sleep.

The next day, Hagrid decided to try teaching Remus some spellwork, since he obviously had magical talent. He shrunk his pink umbrella down a bit so the boy could hold it more comfortably. Normally Hagrid wouldn't use magic so blatantly outside the privacy of his hut, but they were far enough away from the castle and with no students present, there was no one to happen upon them.

"This one's useful for keeping the gardens watered," Hagrid explained as he sat on a squat stool so he could be more on level with the small boy. "Aguamenti," he said with a wave of his wand, and water squirted from the tip to shower down on the plants. He then cut off the spell and offered the umbrella to Remus. "Ready to try?"

Remus hesitantly took the wand. "That's the spell you used to put out the curtains," he said, still sounding ashamed over it.

"That's right. It's got a million uses. Need water to make tea? Aguamenti."

Remus took a breath and turned toward the garden patch. "Aguamenti," he said and waved the umbrella. A little spurt of water shot out. He frowned at it.

"Hey, that's good for your first try!" Hagrid said. "Some wizards have to give it a go at least half a dozen times. Try again."

Remus now had a determined expression on his face as he cast the spell again. This time more water spurted out before falling flat. Remus kept at it, repeating the casting until he finally got a good gushing of water.

"There you go!" Hagrid cheered. "Now go on and water the garden."

Remus darted away so he could attempt to cover the whole patch before the stream ran out. Hagrid beamed. He then took Remus inside to teach him some repair spells, not just for the curtains, but for the worn holes in clothing. Remus was a quick study and Hagrid was impressed. The boy belonged at Hogwarts. Though…he hadn't gotten his letter, and surely an owl would have found him here by now. Hagrid sighed, wondering if it was because of the werewolf thing. Likely it was, which just wasn't fair.

Well, it wasn't much, but Hagrid would keep doing what he could for the boy.

That night after supper, he showed Remus one last spell for the day—how to cast a projection of the stars and galaxy from the wand to light the darkness. Remus's eyes glittered with the reflection of the sparkling specks after he tried the spell himself.

"I'll leave my wand right here if you need it in the night to chase away the nightmares," Hagrid said, setting the little pink umbrella on the nightstand between their two beds.

To his surprise, Remus darted over and threw his arms around him, never mind he couldn't quite encompass Hagrid's girth.

"Thank you, Hagrid."

Hagrid draped an arm around him. "You're welcome."

With the next full moon in mind and a plan for dealing with it, Hagrid took Remus deep into the forest to introduce him to Aragog.

"Now, a lot of people would call Aragog a dark creature," Hagrid explained. "And they wouldn't even bother to give him a chance, but he's not all bad, once you get to know him."

Remus looked a little nervous about meeting a giant spider but bravely followed Hagrid into the darkest part of the wood where the trees were so thick that they blocked out direct sunlight. Strands of old webs lay strewn over sickly leaves, while larger clumps clung to whole bushes. There were some fresh webs set out for prey, viscous cords strung between trees.

The forest seemed eerily quiet and empty, but Hagrid knew better. He paused and looked up into the trees where the giant spider was perched as though ready to pounce. Remus's eyes widened.

"Okay, you've had your fun," Hagrid chided. "Come down and meet my friend."

The spider curled its legs in and descended from the tree canopy by a rope of web. He touched down on the ground and drew himself up to his full height, taller than Hagrid.

"Aragog, this is Remus. Remus, this is Aragog. You've actually met before, when you were furry."

"Hi," Remus said timidly.

"You are fortunate to be Hagrid's friend," Aragog replied.

Hagrid shot the spider a warning look not to frighten the boy. He needed Aragog's help, after all.

"He's gonna help keep you safe during the full moon," Hagrid told Remus.

The boy furrowed his brow. "How?"

"His webs are thick and strong, but unlike chains, they won't hurt you. And they'll keep you from hurting yourself."

Remus seemed to contemplate that. "You'd rather eat the werewolf," he said to the spider bluntly.

Aragog let out a wheezing laugh. "You are smart, child. But I have given Hagrid my word that no harm shall come to you."

Remus considered it for a moment longer. "Okay."

Hagrid smiled in relief. "Good. Aragog, we'll see you in a couple weeks."

They passed the time going about things as usual. Hagrid kept up his groundskeeper duties and Remus voraciously read every book Hagrid borrowed from the castle library to bring him. He continued to teach the young wizard some easy spells. All in all, they were having a very pleasant summer, and Hagrid tried not to think what would happen once school started up again. He could tell Dumbledore that Remus was a distant cousin who'd come to live with him.

The day of Remus's birthday, which Hagrid had managed to pry out of him earlier, Hagrid wanted to do something special for the boy. He didn't have much money to buy a nice gift, but he figured it was the thought that counted. So on that note, he sent Remus outside to practice his spellwork, telling him to keep out for a few hours but to not get into trouble.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"If I told ya that, it wouldn't be a surprise," Hagrid said and shooed him out.

The problem with having Remus practice his spell casting was that Hagrid then couldn't use his wand to bake a cake. So he'd have to do it by hand. It couldn't be that hard.

He was wrong. Several mishaps later, the room covered in a light dusting of flour, and some smashed eggs on the floor, Hagrid had a cake. It was lopsided and the frosting was sliding off one side, but it should at least taste good.

"Remus!" he called through the open window. "You can come back in now."

The boy extinguished the small flame he'd been practicing and darted into the hut. His eyes widened as he saw the cake and the sloppily written "Happy Birthday" in icing on top.

"Happy birthday!" Hagrid said cheerily.

"You made this for me?" he asked, always so surprised when someone did something nice for him.

"Well it's not my birthday," Hagrid replied. He grabbed a knife and cut a slice out of the cake to put on a plate.

"Chocolate!" Remus exclaimed in delight.

Hagrid grinned and passed the slice to him. The boy eagerly dug in with his fork, his face splitting into the happiest smile Hagrid had ever seen.

"How is it?" he asked nervously.

"Deli-sus," Remus said with his mouth full.

Hagrid beamed and cut a piece for himself.

When the full moon came at the end of July, Hagrid took a subdued Remus out to the forest after supper to Aragog's den. Hagrid paused halfway there and bent down on one knee next to the boy.

"Hey, you alright with this? I trust Aragog, and I'll be there all night, I promise."

Remus hunched in on himself. "No, that's fine."

"Then what is it?"

Remus's throat bobbed. "It hurts," he murmured. "It hurts so much, Hagrid."

Hagrid's heart broke, and he pulled the boy in for a hug. "I know. I'm so sorry."

He spent a moment comforting the boy, though there wasn't really any comfort to give for something like this. Then he stood up and placed a hand on Remus's shoulder as they continued on their way.

At Aragog's den, the giant spider had woven a fence of thick webbing around a small cluster of trees, creating a narrow pen the werewolf wouldn't be able to escape from. Eyes downcast, Remus slowly undressed, like a man on his way to the firing squad. He folded his clothes and handed them to Hagrid, then walked off into the copse. Aragog closed the gap behind him, sealing him in. Hagrid wanted to say something, but what could he say? It felt inappropriate to try to fill the doomed silence with words.

When the moon rose, a guttural choking sound emanated from the pen, followed by an agonized scream. Hagrid squeezed his eyes shut, hating every moment as the boy he loved was ripped apart from the inside and remade into a mindless beast.

The wolf whimpered, then started pacing the confines of its cage. It quickly tried to just bust through and was thus caught. It snarled and growled in rage, and Aragog climbed up a nearby tree to manipulate the webbing into capturing the animal's limbs so it couldn't attack itself. Now all that was left was to wait out the night.

While Hagrid had said he would stay, he knew his close proximity would drive the werewolf insane with bloodlust, so he and Aragog moved a short distance away, far enough they could hear the wolf and Aragog could keep an eye on his web without them agitating the beast within. Hagrid pulled out his wand and started a campfire.

"You care for the child," Aragog observed.

Hagrid swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Yeah," he said hoarsely. "He doesn't deserve this. No one does."

They listened to the wolf keen in misery for hours on end. Then, late into the night, there was a different sound—two snarls on top of each other. Alarmed, Hagrid leaped to his feet and ran for the web cage. To his horror, a gytrash had clawed its way through the outer webbing to get at the trapped werewolf inside. The little werewolf was thrashing and gnashing his teeth as the larger dog moved in on its prey, forked tail flicking in anticipation. It lunged, and Hagrid whipped his umbrella up.

"Lumos!"

Light burst from the tip, and the gytrash snarled as it jerked away from the illumination. Hagrid charged forward, driving the beast back, but it was too late—as the gytrash turned and fled, the werewolf broke free of the webbing. Hagrid jerked his wand toward it as its blazing eyes snapped toward him.

"Remus—" he tried, but the wolf leaped.

Hagrid scrambled backward just as Aragog dropped down from the treetops, smacking the werewolf with one of his pointed legs. The wolf yelped and came around again, but Aragog reared up with a spitting hiss, and the werewolf finally turned and ran off.

"Remus, no!" Hagrid yelled. But it was no use.

A few moments later came the sounds of vicious fighting as the werewolf and gytrash clashed somewhere in the forest. Hagrid started forward to go after him, but Aragog put a hairy leg in his path.

"Hagrid, you cannot go now," the spider said soberly.

Hagrid clenched his fists. He knew it'd be stupid, but he couldn't leave Remus out there. What if the gytrash killed him?

But what if one or the other killed Hagrid? Then who would look after the boy?

So even though it tore his heart to shreds, Hagrid stayed with Aragog until the moon disappeared and dawn bled red into the sky. Then he was off running through the forest, yelling for Remus. He found a blood trail and followed it, heart pounding with terror at what he would find. The gytrash would be gone now that it was light.

He burst through some underbrush and skidded to a horrified stop. There was Remus, lying naked on the ground, brutally carved up and bleeding. A large pool had gathered beneath him and he was completely unconscious, skin grey in the morning light.

"Remus!" Hagrid hurried over and dropped down beside him, waving his wand with every healing spell he knew. But it wasn't enough. There was too much damage, too much blood already outside his small body.

Hagrid had no choice. He scooped Remus up into his arms and turned to run back to Hogwarts, praying someone there would be able to help him.